One of the two ailing Polish mountaineers stranded at a height of over 5,000 feet on way to the Himalayan peak of Shivlinga in Uttarkashi district fell to his death while his compatriot is missing, a senior police official said today.

Lukasz Jan Chrzanowski tottered and fell into a deep gorge on Thursday evening as he tried to come down in order to make it easier for the rescuers to reach him, Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Dadan Pal told PTI.

As he was ailing and week he seems to have faltered while coming down and fell to his death, he said.

Lukasz's compatriot and companion Grezegorz Michael Kukurowski, who is also ailing is yet to be located, the official said.

Lukasz's body has been brought to the base camp at Tapovan while a search is on to find Kukurowski, he said.

The authorities are in touch with the Polish embassy to find out how to hand over Lukasz's body to his family.

Meanwhile, the search is on by a combined team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Garhwal Scouts (mountaineering squad from Gulmarg) and the Army's 12 Grenadiers to trace the other ailing mountaineer, the SP said.

The duo, who were part of a five-member team of mountaineers from Poland, took ill on way to Shivlinga peak located at a height of 6,543 metres above Gomukh on Wednesday, police said.

Rescue operations were launched after other members of the group returned to their base camp and informed authorities about it, Pal said.

The Polish mountaineering team had begun the expedition on September 22.

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